>> gretchen: we still have folks here thinking they can beat shaq. >> steve: delusional of. tomorrow on our program, laura ingraham, cheryl casone, and actress aisha tyler. big show. >> gretchen: see you tomorrow bill: guys. good morning. as we start this week we want to talk about a dangerous rescue in afghanistan come at a high price the life of a u.s. navy seal. here is the mission. to save an american doctor kidnapped by the taliban. as we go through the story it's a reminder about the sacrifice still being made overseas. good morning i'm bill hemmer. whole new week here at

"america's newsroom". martha: i'm martha maccallum. this fallen hero was a member of navy "seal team 6" that carried out the mission to kill usama bin laden. according to officials in afghanistan they came under heavy fire with this mission. >> according to our information the kidnappers were taliban. they were heavily armed with heavy machine guns, with so-called rpg. rocket propelled grenades and ak-47s. bill: steve centanni follows up in washington. what can we report about this rescue machine? >> reporter: good morning bill. it took place early sunday after intelligence revealed the kidnapped american was in imminent danger of injury or death. dr. joseph is a medical advice sore for a group called "morningstar" development based in colorado springs. it is a group that helps rebuild communities in afghanistan. the doctor was not injured. this happened in eastern

kabul province. they were abducted by a group of five men while returning to a visit at a medical clinic. an isaf spokesman describes the rescue effort. >> it was a combined operation in order to rescue int operation. seven of those captures were killed. and the task force decided to start the operation since the assessment was there was imminent danger of injury or death to the individual. >> reporter: the identity of the other two aid workers has not been released, bill. bill: what more about the knave very seal killed during this operation, steve? >> reporter: his identity is not released which is typical when you talk about u.s. operations. they like to operate undercover and keep his

identity secret. his heroic efforts are being praised at highest levels i can tell you that. president obama saying in a statement our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. as we honor all our military troops and his families he gave his life for all americans and he and his teammates remind us about the selfless service that keeps our nation strong and free. defense secretary leon panetta also said in a statement, i was deeply saddened to learn a u.s. service member was killed in the operation. i want to extend my condolences to his family, teammates and friends. to had fallen hero and our special operators americans seed highest ideals of citizenship and service and the torch of freedom burns brighter because of them. bill: reminder again of the great sacrifice from so many. steve centanni, thank you. martha. >> reporter: you bet. martha: also in the fight against terror a big blow to al qaeda, its second-in-command killed in

a drone strike. pakistani intelligence officials say abu saiid kuwaiti was killed. and he was presented as a religious scholar for the group. he was promoted second-in-command earlier this year. back to the economy now, china apparently going on an american spending spree. a chinese company agreed to buy a big chunk of insurance giant aig for more than $4 billion after the company got a huge bailout during the u.s. financial crisis. that is not the only bargain that china is picking up from u.s. taxpayers lately. stuart varney on this morning, head of "varney & company" on fox business network. good morning, stuart. good to see you. >> good morning, martha. martha: they're gobbling up our assets in many ways . what do you make of it. >> they are spending the money they have got buying american assets cheap. you mentioned aig. a chinese company is paying

$4 billion for aig's plane leasing business. aig remember got $189 billion as a bailout fund that was back in september of 2008. the taxpayers still are the largest shareholder in aig. we sold the plane leasing business to china cheap. second item, a 123 batteries, americans taxpayers gave that company $249 million in grants and another 250 million in tax subsidies. the chinese are snapping it up for $247 million. item, martha. the national association of realtors reported chinese buyers paid $7 billion for american mansions, single family, upscale homes. making them the second largest group of overseas buyers and they mostly paid in cash. they have the money and spending it here buying american assets cheap. martha: there are a number of ways to look at this obviously. if the companies do sell off

parts of them will it make them leaner, more efficient. the other side is to consider who the buyer is and what the dynamic is, we're about a trillion dollars in debt to china. how does that change our dynamic between the two countries, stuart? >> it doesn't really change the dynamic. the dynamic continues. as i said they have got the money. we've spent all of ours. look in october and november alone according to the congressional budget office, just in those two months, america overspent and had to borrow $280 billion. some of that money was borrowed from china. some of that money was then recycled into american assets. so you see there's a circle going on here. we spend too much. we borrow a ton. we borrow it from china. they have got the money. they then buy book our assets. that is the circle that keeps going around and around. martha: vicious cycle one or the other. >> with aig and a123 1i678s, american taxpayers subsidized the companies and cheapened

the asset. martha: how different than what happened with japan in the '80s. seems like they owned every building in new york. >> back in the '80s and very early '90s japan actually overpaid. they bought the pebble beach golf course in california and bought rockefeller center in new york. various other properties and paid huge dollars for them and lot of their shirts. this time around with china is not the case. you can't say they're paying a lot of money for aig's plane leasing business or a123. martha: stuart, thank you. see you coming up on the business channel. bill: here is the question for you. how much american debt does china actually own? as the largest foreign owner of u.s. debt it owns more than a trillion dollars in treasury securities. china's holding of u.s. debt has increased 56% over the course of the obama presidency which comes out to about $400 billion more. it has bought or invested in more than $15 billion in more than 100 u.s. companies

going pack to january of 2010. that is influence. martha: new numbers raising fresh concerns here at home about our economy. the u.s. consumer spending numbers showing signs of weakening after four months of gains. experts blame things like very high unemployment of course and the prospect of increased taxes as we get closer to the fiscal cliff. looks like everybody's taxes are going up no matter how this thing is comes out. consumer spending accounts for more than 2/3 of economic output. especially important at this time of year of course when a lot of sectors in all of these areas have been struggling, here is a bit of good news. martha: okay. take it. bill: not a lot. if you're driving on the road, thanks to shrinking demand manned lower fuel prices gas is sinking like a stone. a drop of 34 cents in the past month. in st. louis, drivers paying just over $3. even l.a. is paying 3.68.

which is below four bucks where they have been for a very long time. even further drops expected in the coming days. martha: a devastating loss this morning. jennie rivera, the mexican american singer on the verge of crossing over to this country in u.s. popularity is presumed to have been killed when a private plane crashed in monterrey, mexico. authorities have not confirmed her debt. her relatives say they have few doubts she was on board that plane. she was headed to a concert in central mexico after performing in a sold out concert on saturday. her family is overcome with grief. >> such a big shock to the family. something that is incredible, you know my sister was a very strong person. she fight for everything in life. >> translator: everyone's devastated and everyone is crying a lot. in reality that is a very big loss for us. martha: she was 43 years old. she has sold 15 million

records and been nominated for three late american awards. bill: she is a mother of five. martha: yes. bill: what a tremendous loss this is. much too young at the age of 43. we pray for her family and her children and their loss. we're just getting started now. another republican apparently willing to agree with tax hikes to get a deal on the fiscal cliff. that is the case now. what do republicans get in return? senator lindsey graham is live on that. martha: looks like a beautiful morning everywhere, doesn't it. new reaction as details are now emerging in yet another nfl football tragedy. this time a crash that killed a dallas cowboy player and left another player charged with manslaughter this morning. >> i think everyone in our organization who knew him is completely numb and has been numb the last couple days. football is a game of

emotion. a lot of different emotions circulating. somehow how some way, we have to process it all and understand that life is different than football and we had a job to do today gressiv, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make meone happy.♪.♪it's so e ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪

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bill: for the second straight week now tragedy in the nfl. the dallas cowboys, josh brent now facing charges of intoxicated manslaughter. accused driving drunk and killing a long-time teammate and friend in a high-speed crash. it happened hours before he was to fly to cincinnati for sunday's game. >> tragedy that occurred early saturday morning. the loss of jerry brown, jr., practice squad linebacker. in a car with his teammate, college teammate. now teammate with the cowboys. bill: the cowboys paying tribute to brown in their own way, displaying his jersey on the bench sunday afternoon. all too familiar scene. reminiscent of last sunday,

kansas city chiefs gathered in prayer. it was an emotional day for players and coaches alike. >> it takes all of us to have success in football. i told them that the bonds of teammates are rare and special and they go stronger and stronger and stronger over time and through adversity. that is what we had. so i wasn't trying to make a football is life type comparison but i just asked them to learn from all the lessons that we've all learned from football to try to handle the situation as best we can. >> loss is hard in life in general. especially people that you see every single day that you're close with and you, you grind, you grind with, that you, you know, are trying to accomplish a goal with. you go through a lot together and that was a very, still is a very difficult thing that this football team is dealing with. bill: sportscaster jim gray with me right now, fox news contributor. jim, good morning to you.

headlines second straight week for all the wrong reasons. how do you see this. >> it is tragic n this instance it is totally avoidable. unfortunately he didn't have to be driving a car. there is program in place for the national football league and players association, anytime anywhere anybody wants a ride for any reason they can make a phone call. if he mcs the phone call, in all likelihood this doesn't occur and somebody else is driving. bill: so there is a dui number that every player has access to? >> yes. it was negotiated in the last player agreement between the owners and the players. anytime, any place that a guy wants a ride, because he is intoxicated, because he doesn't feel good, virtually any reason, and it is not a tattletale service. he can get the car. have the anonymity and get to his destination. bill: do you know, do players use that number, jim? >> you know, i don't have any information on that. i would assume if they feel

as though they can not be behind the wheel that they do. i don't know how much or how often or what the usage is. i don't have those statistics. bill: the other sad thing this was a college buddy is. it is a second offense. he had a dui a couple years ago. when you think about youthful players, these guys are in mid to late 20s, they make a lot of money, they're treated like u.s. senators off the field, there is enormous amount of responsibility as a human being that must come along with that, in order to manage what comes their way. >> well, there is. and a lot of them, just aren't prepared and, the nfl has seminars and they try to take these guys through classes and give them all the heads up they can and educate them. in many instances it is just not enough. part of the problem here, bill is that these guys perform incredible athletic feats. so they feel indestructible and what they do on the field allows them to have

that field because none of us could ever do any of this. they get out there and take the risks and they perform. well, that doesn't translate off the field because they're very vulnerable in a car or real life just like the rest of us. bill: the second monday morning in a row we're talking about a tragedy in the nfl. i saw a report that suggests 75% of nfl players own a gun and a few of them, seven reportedly turned their guns in over the past week. what do you know about that, jim? >> well the statistics are high. there have been players who have been followed. there are players who become targets because they have this money and they don't want to feel as though they can not protect themselves. so there probably is a much higher rate in the national football league. again i don't know the exact statistics what it is compared to society. the fact that some of these guys turned in their weapon because of what happened last week is probably and

indication they maybe don't feel they're any safer by having a gun and they feel less safe and more vulnerable by having one. this societal problem. it is not just the national football league or its players. duis in this country happen on a regular basis and it's an issue that continues to be addressed and in this instance it is just, just awful. it is just tragic. bill: whether josh brent or javon belcher we'll see if the commissioner has something to say today or over the week. good to get your perspective, jim. >> thanks, bill. martha: we've been talking so much about the economy and there are indeed some new taxes headed your way this month due to the national health care law no matter what happens with the fiscal cliff. that is coming. what it will cost you. bill: hello, old man winter. he is out there and he is acoming. a major blizzard raging across the midwest bringing record levels of snow. it is de10th, right?

martha: it is time. bill: so who is next? ♪ .

martha: old man winter, a major storm is pounding parts of the upper midwest, unleashing record levels of snowfall. that's a lot out there. high winds, frigid air. minnesota of course very used to this kind of weather this time of year but even this is really out of the ordinary. reporter tom halden with our minneapolis affiliate ksft. he is driving, i don't know if i recommend that. there he is. he is out of the car.

how bad is it out there? >> reporter: well, martha, it is really cold. we have been driving around the twin city roads this morning. we've been streaming and thought, you know what? it is 12 degrees. we have a full foot of snow on the ground. the kids are out of school, a lot of them, why not hop out of the car and let you guys know that winter finally arrived here. you know what? this is normal kind of snowfall for december we normally see. we've not seen a snowfall like this in the twin cities or minnesota for that matter since 2011. we had under a foot of snow all of last winter. even those of us who traditionally overall are used this kind of weather this is certainly a bit of a change from the past couple of winters. schools are closed. schools are starting late. commute times here in the twin cities metro tripled or quadrupledded. there are a lot of people in the twin cities standing in line and minneapolis and st. paul where there are not a lot of garages and they are here at the impound lot

getting their cars back. snow emergencies called to try to get the streets plowed curb to curb and emergency vehicles and everyday folks can get through this. they did that. hundreds of cars have been towed. to get them out of the impound lot, costs $200 and towing fee and ticket for leaving your car. martha: happy monday, right. that is great, wake-up in the middle of the snowstorm the car is gone. trying to get to work. have to get it out of impound lot. sounds like a good monday. a beautiful day i must say. tom, thank you very much. >> it is pretty. martha: we'll watch it as it hopefully moves its way to the east coast. i wouldn't mind a little bit of white stuff for christmas, bill. i'm a snow fan. bill: listen, going up to 57 degrees today. all this talk about climate change, i think it is underrated. i'm just saying it is, just for now. i mean we're going to get it in january. martha: i like winter to be winter. bill: we'll get cold days in march, darn it, when is the

warm stuff. martha: rather have it now. get with it. mr. weatherman. bill: will be snow everywhere. they were fired after getting caught on camera drinking and smoking marijuana on the lunch break. now two years later, a group of chrysler union workers, well, somehow they got their job back. we'll tell you how. martha: plus a growing number of republicans saying they are willing to give in on taxes. is it a gamble that is worth it though? we'll ask senator lindsey graham what he thinks. >> let's face it. he does have the upper hand on taxes. you have to pass something to keep that from coming. -- happening obligations, but obligatio. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes

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bill: the eccentric software millionaire john mcafee speaking out from a guatemala detention center asking to return back to the after being detained for the shooting death of a man in belize. steve harrigan live in miami on these allegations. and steve, what is the next move rather for mcafee? >> reporter: bill, right now he is fighting deportation. he doesn't want to get moved from guatemala back to belize. that is legal process that could take some months. his main goal is return eventually to the united states. >> what we're doing is filing a series of papers, a series of filings with the court to attempt to keep me here long enough for the world to see the injustice of sending me back to belize. i have dual citizenship. i would be happy to go to england. i would be happy to go to

america. america is my home where he was raised and that is exactly what i want. >> reporter: mcafee claims his life would be in danger if he is returned to belize. he exposed corrupt government officials there, bill. bill: there have been some questions about his health, even his sanity, since this whole story began. what can we add to that, steve? >> reporter: when he was detained in guatemala he complained of chest pains. his attorney said he might have suffered a minor heart attack. later that story was revised when mcafee said it was simply stress being on the run. >> the problem i had the other day i did not eat for two days. i drank very little liquids. first time in many years i've been smoking nonstop. i stood up, passed out. hit my head on the wall, came to in total confusion. i'm fine now. >> reporter: mcafee's run began last month from belize with his 20-year-old

girlfriend after belize officials attempted to question him in the shooting death of a neighbor. bill? bill: steve harrigan with the story out of the miami. we'll see where it goes this week. thank you, sir. martha: president obama and house speaker john boehner met face-to-face for the first time in more than three weeks hoping to hammer out some kind of budget deal for this fiscal cliff situation. this as more republican lawmakers took to the airwaves over the weekend saying they are indeed open to raising taxes but only in return for a plan that would get them a significant amount of cuts in entitlement spending. here is some of that from sunday. >> will i accept a tax increase as a part of a deal to actually solve our problems? yes. >> a for honesty but f for effort. you can't get it done, george. you can't take us off the road to bankruptcy unless you deal with structural reforms to entitlement spending. martha: south carolina

republican senator lindsey graham, good to have you in studio. >> great to be here. martha: got out of the craziness of washington for couple days. >> my export expires. martha: you'll need one. talk negotiating tactics. does it make sense at this point in the game, what does it do to undercut john boehner's leverage when folks go out there and say we're willing to go book to 39.6%, as bob corker said over the weekend? is it helpful? >> i think it is hopeful for the republicans on the revenue side we're willing to move. i believe in capping deductions. bowles-simpson is bipartisan proposal. "gang of six" senators, three democrats, three republicans. they didn't raise rates. they capped deductions to. raising rates is partisan political trophy for obama. i don't want to go down that road only if they do entitlement reform. i don't hear any democrat of note hering what i would do on the entitlement side.

if i were republicans i would be quiet for a while and see what the democrats put on the table for entitlement reform. >> big debate last week republicans saying we will do exactly with you said. we're only going to do cuts in deductions. we'll eliminate loop hoses. -- loopholes. that is what happened over the weekend. seems like over the weekend it dissolved into accepting of raising tax rates. the president said there is no deal unless i get that. that is what i ran on. american people are expecting that. >> here is where the president will have a rude awakening. we will get to the end of the year. there will be small deal to get the end of the year. sequestration hits in january. wipes out the department of defense, a lot of draconian cuts across the board and taxes on everyone goes up. i hope boehner and obama can find a way to avoid the initial effects of the fiscal cliff. but in february or march you have to raise the debt ceiling. i can tell you this, there is a hardening on the republican side. we're not going to raise the

debt ceiling. we're not going to let obama borrow anymore money or any american congress borrow anymore money until with fix this country from becoming greece. that requires significant entitlement reform to save social from bankruptcy and medicare from bankruptcy. social security is going bankrupt in about 20, 25 years. medicare is going bankrupt in 15 or 20 years. the baby boomers are coming in at 10,000 a day. and we just can't scene this. martha: president last week said we'll not play that game. last time around they wouldn't let the debt ceiling go up, i tell you right now, something to this effect we will play that game. >> we will play that game, mr. president. that is not a game. the game you're play something small ball. you're talking about raising rates on top 2% that would run the government for 11 days. you got reelected. how about doing something big that is not liberal? how about doing something big that is bipartisan. every big idea he has is a liberal idea that drowns us in debt.

how been maing up, mr. president and use your mandate to bring this country together to stop us from becoming greece? doing what boehner, tip o'neill and ronald reagan did? this political trophy you want rising rates runs the government for left len days when. it cops to debt ceiling time, mr. president, you will have a republican party make sure we save medicare and social security from bumps and save this country from becoming greece. one of his proposals we should never have any congressional check and balance raising the debt ceiling. he got elected president, not king. he is not king. he is president. martha: are you saying that republicans are willing to go to 39.6% back to that rate but the place where they will hold the line is on the debt ceiling issue. >> rates go up no matter what we do. there needs to be revenue component of any big deal. i think capping deductions is better than raising rates. there will come a day in february and march where we have to raise the debt ceiling by trillions of dollars. we're 16 trillion in debt. is it responsible to keep

borrowing money and never address why you're in debt to begin with. long-term debt is baby boomers retiring putting pressure on medicare, medicaid and social security. i hope my party will look out for the country and not just the party itself and push the president to do something it has never done before, lead in bipartisan way. martha: white house said they came up with a trillion dollars in cuts. >> that is joke. that is a joke. have you seen any market reaction to their plan? they do nothing to keep medicare and medicaid and social security from going bankrupt. martha: you feel like there is interest on the president's part to save those programs for the future? or is it just a political talking point? >> he is small ball guy. he is afraid of his own party. he is afraid of going into a progressive meeting and say if we don't adjust the age for retirement and means test benefits for social security and medicare they will go bankrupt. martha: there is possibility to change the programs in a way that would make a real change down the road, that he would be remembered for? i. >> would like him to be a remembered for a president

that saved social security and medicare from bankruptcy working with republicans but he seems to have no inflynncation to be remembered for anything other than a guy who has a small view of his fiscal situation. his proposal that i offered to boehner was literally a joke. it is a $50 billion stimulus package. it raised taxes by 1.6 trillion. did nothing to save social security and medicare. there will come a day, it is called the debt ceiling debate, the republicans will have leverage to save this country from becoming greece. i hope we're strong enough as a party to seize that moment. martha: we'll see how it goes. always great to have you in new york. enjoy your visit. shopping and christmas lights and all of it before you head to washington with your passport. thank you, sir. bill: you could get us out of debt if you shopped. >>my bank account. bill: terrific interview. very infightful. we'll watch this. what if lawmakers fail to get a deal according to the tax policy center? 90% of the americans get a tax hike, january 2013.

121 million will pay more in payroll taxs. families making between 40 and $65,000 a year will have to pay an extra two grand to the government, starting soon. martha: even if lawmakers do reach a deal new taxes are on the way no matter what. they will kick in come january. has nothing to do with the fiscal cliff. why you might pay a lot more for medical supplies, things like rubber gloves, the stuff you see in hospitals all the time. bill: unbelievable. this little girl missing her soldier dad gets her christmas wish. these never get old. merry christmas. ♪ i love the holidays.

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martha: christmas is coming

early for one little girl. this 5-year-old, her name is briel oaks. she got do meet santa at a county fair in wisconsin on thursday. she had just one thing on her list. >> so what would you like for christmas? >> my daddy to come home. >> where is daddy? >> in afghanistan. >> he is in afghanistan? >> uh-huh. martha: emotional scene that played out early as the u.s. army captain steve oak surprises his daughter. watch this. he comes through the back door. he was able to get home three days earlier than expected. those are big three days. >> absolutely great to be home. >> i just wanted to mick it special for her because steve being gone, it affected all of us but her the most. they're two peas in a pod. martha: captain olk was

serving in afghanistan since february. that was his second tour. we welcome him and all those coming home for christmas and those not coming home from christmas. bill: ten months away not seeing your father. you understand why it was the only thing on her list. there was no pokemon or tickle me elmo. are those the cool gifts now? martha: you got me. bill: no iphone. nicely done. welcome home. job well-done. 17 minutes before the hour. a trio of new taxes linked to obamacare go into effect in january. the most controversial tax believe it or not is on medical supplies. everything from a latex glove to an x-ray machine. republicans say it will hurt the economy. congressman tom price out of georgia saying quote, the tax on medical devices harms america's ability to conduct necessary research and development maintain our global competitiveness resulting in loss of tens of thousands of jobs and fewer groundbreaking innovations in this field.

with millions of americans unemployed this simply makes no sense. stephen moore, senior writer for "the wall street journal." how are you doing, steve? good morning. >> hi, bill. bill: they're saying 43,000 jobs because of this. what, a latex glove gets taxed? i thought it was just like on mri machines and big items like that? >> actually, no. thank you for doing this segment because a lot of americans don't realize when the president calls for all the new taxes in the fiscal cliff negotiation, mr. president we already have a big tax increase that will hit on january 2nd. that of course is the obamacare taxes. you mentioned one of them, the tax on medical devices and medical equipment, bill, which i agree with, congressman price. that will reduce innovation and will reduce the kind of invention and new products we need to keep people healthier. in addition to that, bill, don't forget there is something called 3.8% investment tax surcharge in the obamacare bill that starts in january. one of the things that the

president says is a little misleading i will only raise tax rates back where they were in the clinton era. you heard him say that a lot of times, bill. he is not including that 3.8% investment tax that will raise the taxes higher than they were in the '90s. bill: i see. seeing it right here. if you make more than $200,000. >> that's right. bill: if you're in a household of 250 or above, subject to a new 3.8% tax. well, you know, ultimately republicans argue this is coming down on the back of the economy and it will cost jobs. cook medical, which is based out of indiana. they have been really vocal about this thing ever since obamacare was floated 2 1/2 years ago. they will scrap plans to open five new plants because of the tax. and there are others say just this provision alone will cost 43,000 american jobs. what do you make of that? >> i think that is probably right. if you tax something you get less of it, right? so you're going to have reduction in the amount of innovation that goes on in

medical devices. by the way these new taxes apply to drugs and vaccines and other pharmaceutical products. i would make a broader case here, bill. i don't think the real cost of this is so much in lost jobs, although they will lose jobs. i think the problem with this, the united states of america is what leads the world in medical innovation. life-saving wonder drugs, most of them come from the united states. all the new medical devices that also are critical in terms of treating people with chronic diseases, reducing the amount of pain and suffering, all of those things will be in shorter supply right now. we'll reduce the amount of innovation. that means kind of cures for things like heart disease and cancer and multiple sclerosis. i think we will delay those because we'll put higher tax on them. bill: other side there will be millions of new customers because of law and those new customers will drive business higher. do you buy it? >> there is something to that. we put a lot of people on the government programs so

there will be some demand. but the problem when i talk to people in the industry, what they're worried about is not just these new taxes but they think the next thing is coming, bill, is price controls. in fact there will be federal regulations how much they can charge for these kinds of things. that also leads to less innovation in this industry. if you look at major kinds of innovations that have happened in medicine over the last 20 or 30 years, about 75 to 80% have been invented in the united states of america. it is one of the areas we have the greatest competitive edge and i hate to see that being reduced. bill: hallelujah. two days ago, senator bob casey, democrat from pennsylvania, and 16 other democrats who voted for the affordable care act are asking for this provision, this tax to be postponed. >> you know what bill? i think there is a good chance that will happen because you have virtually all the republicans are against these innovation taxes but --. bill: why would they agree to it in the beginning then?

>> because i don't think they really understood the real ramifications of this, bill. as with everything in washington we don't solve a problem until we're right up against the precipice of the cliff and i think that will happen with this tax. they had a vote on this i think last summer, a few months ago, it came close to overturning the bill. they didn't have quite enough votes. i think you're onto something. i think they may overturn this sometime early in 2013 as we see the real results of it. bill: you have to pass it to know what is in it. steve moore, hemmer@foxnews.com is the e-mail. shoot me a tweet on twitter @billhemmer because you asked, bya. thank you, steve moore, "wall street journal." 11 minutes before the hour. martha: north korea says it is extending the window now for the controversial long range rocket launch we've been talking about for a couple weeks. the question is, and we've seen them have trouble in the past, can they get this thing off the ground? bill: they were caught drinking on the job after

the american taxpayers saved their job and company with a massive bailout. martha: that was a heartwarming story. bill: two years later group of chrysler employees are back on the job. you wonder how that happened. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

[applause] bill: great time of year. celebrating the start of hanukkah over the weekend. the national menorah in washington, d.c., the largest in the world, lit in a ceremony sunday evening the first full day of the jewish holiday and second night of eight-day festival of lights. the ceremony featured a performance by the united states navy band. martha: now this.

a big update for you on a group of chrysler workers, remember this story? they were fired for drinking on the job during the day and afternoon. this video was everywhere. that happened shortly after the auto giant received a massive taxpayer bailout. left a lot of people scratching their heads what was going on there. two years later we learned the same employees are back on the job. jamie colby is live with more. how did this whole thing get started. >> reporter: just a few months before the plant employees were disciplined i want to show you the video, president obama toured the chrysler jefferson north assembly plant in detroit, michigan, july 30th, 2010. how did the workers get their job back two years later? uaw, the union that represents them in collective bargaining provided for arbitration. the arbiter sided with workers. chrysler's response, unfortunately the company was put in difficult position because the way the

story was investigated and ultimately revealed to the public. these employees from jeff north have been off work more than two years and the time has come to put the situation behind us and put focus on quality products. the president back in detroit today with scheduled visit to the daimler detroit diesel plant in redford, michigan, a different one. martha: good old-fashioned investigative reporting on this one. caught on camera moments you have to see to believe. my favor when they chuck the bottle in the woods when done drinking with it. >> reporter: you really do. as attorney, understanding the arbitration process it is hard to understand how when you see what they did, they got their jobs back. take a look at this. this is the chrysler plant parking lot where workers are on break. they were videoed several day's by fox's own rob walchek, the detroit affiliate. as a result of what he found he brought it to chrysler's attention. 13 employees fired following chrysler's investigation.

two suspended 30 days. all of them back at work. check this out. roll the tape. >> hey, guys, hate to be a buzz kill, shouldn't you guys building cars? the government spent a lot of money bailing you guys out and you're coming out here on lunch break drinking like this? where are you guys going, man? >> reporter: they got out but didn't essentially get away because they lost their jobs. two years later most are back, reinstated 30 days later. they were drinking out of paper bags and reportedly smoking marijuana. the jefferson north assembly plant in michigan where this was taking place, they were part of the auto industry that received what was collectively millions in taxpayer bailout money, martha. martha: interesting. good reporting. jamie, thank you very much. >> reporter: sure. bill: was that guy driving away in a ford mustang in the story? guilty as charged. see you at lunch today, martha. unions planning, another

mass the state of michigan. why tomorrow could be a turning point in the battle between unions and management. martha: egyptian protesters keeping up the pressure on president mohammed morsi. the latest in the clashes in tahrir square. the next hour of "america's newsroom" is coming up. don't go away. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop? campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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order now and get a special holiday gift: a document shredder to keep sensitive documents out of the wrong hands... a $29 value, free! call the number on your screen or go online and let lifelock protect your identity for 60 days risk-free. because during the holidays, keeping your identity protected means keeping your family protected. martha: fox news alert. unions are said to be planning mass protests for tomorrow. this is a last-ditch attempt to stop michigan's right to work law. [chanting] martha: a lot of people are fired up in lancing. that was the scene on thursday when union supporters marched on the state capitol. the fight now has moved to michigan. they are angry over the expect

expected passage of a new law demanding dues from workers. that has them angry. happy monday, everybody. bill: how was the weekend. martha: weekend was good. it was like we got the tree up. it barely fits in the living room but that's okay. bill: michigan workers back to work, tomorrow, tuesday, the first order of business is the final votes on the law and off to the governor's desk. he has said he will sign it into law but critics day it's an assault on workers rights. have a listen here. >> this legislation isn't about anything except an attack on workers' rights and roll people back from what we fought for for generations. >> i view this as solving and issue for michigan workers. this is about giving workers choice. we have hard workers in michigan. martha: here we go. john fund is national affairs columnist for the national review. welcome.

good morning to you. it's very interesting when you watch what some would call market forces, changing the dynamic in a lot of the states. what is going on in the autostate, in michigan? >> this is the state that gave birth to the modern labor movement, it is of enormous symbolic importance to the union movement. i have relatives in michigan. my father's family is from there, many have been union members. the economy has changed. it's now competing on a whole range of areas that it didn't before. the automatic though industry had to completely reinvent itself. indiana which is next door to michigan became a right to work state last year. michigan has lost 8,000 manufacturing jobs, indiana has got even 14,000 new jobs. michigan will have to do things differently to remain competitive. one thing is to give people the right not to join a union if they don't want to. every other private organization in america has to ask for your

money and membership voluntarily, whether it's the red cross, church or aarp but the union is different. this means michigan will join 23 other states giving workers that freedom. martha: we have a map of the 23 states and it is really a growing movement of right to work states in this country, and, john, you know as you point out this would give workers a choice, and when you think back to the beginnings of unions they were created for a very good purpose to protect workers in an environment where they really had no means to protect themselves. that dynamic man many would say has changed dramatically over the years and the unions are struggling to hang onto their existence in many ways. >> the unions give them very fragmentary information on how they spend their dues money. about 7 5:00, 80% of it goes to politics electing people who will then turn around and give them pay raises if they work, for example in the public sector. bottom line, unions, i think

should represent workers for collective bargaining, grievances, all kinds of issues, but if you are paying politics the worker should have a right, when 40% of workers generally vote republican if they are a union, they should have a right to say my dues go to what i want not the politicians you want as union bosses. martha: how do you think this stakes out in michigan. >> in wisconsin there was a lot of protesting, it went on for a longtime, there were recall attempts, ultimately the public backed the governor and the governor is pretty popular in michigan because he's turning the economy around. in ohio it's a different story, they passed some union measures and they were able to put it to a vote of the people and the unions won that, in michigan that won't be possible. the only chance the unions have to overturn this is to elect a new governor and legislature two years from now and by then we'll see if the right to work law has improved michigan answer economy in a way it has improved indiana's economy.

martha: it tells a tale in so many ways of what is going on in this country. thank you very much, john fund. bill: this union fight in michigan has serious implications in that state. it has the fifth highest union membership in all the united states, 671,000 workers in the state belong to a union just last year and the number of michigan workers who belong to unions down nearly 30% over the past ten years. this is fox news alert, north korea extending the window for a rocket launch in that country that the u.s. believes is a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test. the communist country's state media saying technical i shall ooze delaying the launch for the moment. greg palkot is live in london watching this all weekend, what is the latest now on monday, greg? >> reporter: hey, bill, a technical mess, that is how one expert describes to me the scene of that north korea launch cycle right now. the liftoff of that controversial multistage rocket

by yeongpyeong is not going to happen now. it has been delayed maybe a week, maybe more. a new target period could be around christmas week. the initial problems have pw-pbt unseasonably cold temperatures in the area as well as snow. now they are admitting to a problem with the first stage of the rocket, that session apparently has to be replaced. last time they tried to launch something was in april, we were there, it failed. north korea claims it still could be ready in time, again, according to the people that i have been speaking to, this points to the, shall we say, limitations of this space launch vehicle, bill. bill: what about international reaction, whether it's china, russia, south korea or japan, how are they react. >> reporter: negative reaction, bill remains very strong, like a whole region around north korea is on high alert. they claim it is for peaceful purposes, they send up a satellite, what the fear is that

they are trying to test a long-range rocket that can carry a nuclear payload, they do have nuclear material. could be well in range of los angeles to be honest with you. tokyo right now being defended by a battery of patriot missiles, other place necessary japan being protected that way. japanese and south korea destroyers set to be deployed as well as four navy vessels from the u.s. an admiral saying this is a dangerous launch. there had been speculation that all of this negative reaction, yes, even coming from russia and china alwhraoeus to nort, allies to north korea may be playing a factor in this delay. i'm told no, kim jong un is the new young leader there. he's marking the first anniversary of the death of his father kim jong-il. we think according to the experts they will go forward with this and we think that whatever happens, successor failure, it's going to be declared a success, bill.

bill: thanks, greg. greg palkot will be declared a success on the inside of that country, thanks in london. martha: a lot of politics at play as greg says, that is why this rocket launch is so controversial. the u.s. and most of the world believes that north korea is working on a ballistic missile that would be capable of hitting america. the rogue nation has conducted four tests of long range missiles since 1998 all of the tests as greg was just saying have landed in the water, they all failed. as we are saying that does not mean that they have stopped trying. bill: and they will try again. also overseas, hillary clinton forced to delay a trip aimed at providing more support to the opposition in syria. clinton reportedly has a so many abstomach virus. she will take part with leaders on the syrian crisis. they recognize the syrian opposition as legitimate representatives of the people in that country.

martha: accused colorado shooter james holmes is expected to be in court in under an hour today. this will be the first appearance for the man accused of killing 12 people in that horrific night in that crowded theater, and he reportedly tried to kill himself in his jail sell last month. alicia acuna live on this story from centennial, colorado. what is expected to happen in there today? >> reporter: good morning, martha. james holmes defense team is asking the judge to sanction the prosecution over leaks to the media, specifically that notebook we've heard so much about that james holmes sent to his university of colorado psychiatrist. defense attorneys charge that it was the prosecution that leaked the contents, and is calling witnesses today to track who handled it once it was discovered in the school's mailroom. the prosecution denies they told the media the notebook details holmes desires to kill people. case observers say this is all a distraction. >> the defense is going to

complain about anything and everything. there was a new release of documents from the government, the university of colorado, i expect the defense will complain about that. any opportunity that the defense has to complain about the government, they will do so. >> reporter: with the chance that this will become a death penalty case silverman also says that it's the defense's job to just delay things, to keep their client alive as long as possible, and this is all just part of the process. and this hearing is expected to go all day. in terms of james holmes condition, we do know the last time that he was in court, or was supposed to be in court in november it was delayed to today because of a reported suicide attempt. apparently in terms of his condition we haven't been given details, but he is well enough to be in court today, and this apparently isn't the first time he has tried to hurt himself. we had heard that he had tried to bang his head against his

cell wall. we will have a producer in court today and let you know what happens. martha: boy, what a story that's been. thank you very much. we'll watch it. bill: there are new concerns the president's tough talk on the fiscal crisis could create a quote, permanent war between the white house and the republican party. brit hume will analyze that possibility with us. martha: two boys arrested and accused of an armed carjacking attempt before they could even reach the age of 12. bill: oh, boy, that is not a stuffed animal, martha. santa will not deliver one of these on christmas morning. martha: the most bizarre thing i've ever seen. bill: what's he doing here? martha: cute little jacket on the monkey. >> a group of people around and a little thing on the ground, at first i didn't know what kind of animal it was or what it was, and then i said oh, my gosh, it's a monkey. anncr: some politicians seem to think medicare and...

social security are just numbers in a budget. well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come. we can do better than a last minute deal... martha: newt gingrich with a warning for president obama. he says that the white house is taking a big risk with its my

way or the highway negotiations on the fiscal cliff. now you can look at it. >> this president has a chance, as he did in 09 to come in and say i'm going to sit down and we're going to be bipartisan. we are going to put the country first. i'm going to write or he can write a stimulus package and ram it through on red. he guarantees a permanent war, because everybody on the right at every level sooner or later is going to get particular sick of it. martha: is he right? let's talk to brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. good morning to you. is he right about that if the president doesn't do some negotiating, giving in a little bit on this that he's risks a permanent war on capitol hill. >> reporter: i think there will be a permanent war over the issues of taxation and spending regardless of what happens in this immediate negotiation to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff

and the reason is this. for a longtime, martha, we were able to increase entitlement benefits, keep taxes relatively low, because the economy, over time, grew fast enough to produce enough revenue to mean that we could kind of have it both ways. those day, at least for now, appear to be over. and we are increasingly borrowing to cover our governmental expenses and our entitlement state and all the rest of it. and it's an unsustainable debt burden. how hard it hits us is a matter of some debate or how soon. at this point we will not be able to go on like this. this sort of model if you could call it that is broken and it's going to mean there is a long struggle here to finance the government and get control of the debt, and i don't see it ending any time soon regardless of what happens here. martha: a lot of people talk about leadership and what they see as a lack of leadership on

the president's part in this issue. i spoke a little while ago with senator lindsey graham and he said that the president is playing small ball. here is a little bit of that brit. it's coming, i'm told. >> he's a small ball guy, he's afraid of his own party. he's afraid of going into a progressive meeting and saying, if we don't adjust the age for retirement and benefits for social security and medicare they are going to go bankrupt. martha: is the president missing a larger opportunity here to really input change in the way we do things and right the ship? >> reporter: oh, yeah he certainly is. the question the president faces is this. to many in his party, and many who voted for him, these entitlement programs that we have are the crown. juliet: o crown jewlels of american social property.

tampering with them is seen by them as doing damage to this nation and the kind of social justice that people seek, and their view is that we should raise whatever taxes are needed to continue to finance these benefits. that is -- people in this party won't come right out and say that, necessarily, but that is basically what it comes down to. it's not clear to me that the president really wants to do anything about this unsustainable problem from the entitlements which really doesn't hit us yet. you know, the day when the insolvency of these programs brings them here to collapse will be some time in the future when the president may be gone, i don't think he wants to climb out on a limb, buck his own party and make common-sense with republicans to fix a problem they don't see as urgent if they see it as a problem at all. martha: tampering with them may be the only way to make the programs last. in a second term some time a

president cares about lis his leg bass see, right. >> reporter: he would be statesman like to say we can't tax our way out of this. i hope economic growth will give us more revenue increase. we know we can't continue to pay for the retirement benefits, rehave to raise the retirement able and means testing and so on. i don't think he's prepared too do that. he's shown no inclination in the first four years of his presidency to do that. he talks about it sometimes but he's never really put a serious program on the table to do it and he doesn't appear prepared to do it in these negotiations. the question is, will he ever do it? i have my doubts. martha: thank you. good to talk to you. >> reporter: thanks. bill: you wonder what that conversation was all about with john boehner and the president over the weekend. ultimately you wonder if the house speaker is telling the president, look i can get x

amount of votes to get this through -- if we can do a deal on this we can get it through. martha: there are those who say why offer to increase tax rates buy the g.o.p. said they would never do without getting some kind of layout of a plan to cut entitlements. bill: based on all the republicans are saying they won't get a deal on the entitlement deal, the tax rates, or the debt ceiling unless you cut those entitlements. martha: as lindsey graham just told us he thinks the debt ceiling might be their last sort of real chip to play at the table here and he seems to think they are going to push for that. bill: you ask a hundred people, you get a hundred different answers whether we are going to avoid this thing or not. it's being called the jersey shore meets honey boo-boo. it's called "buck wild. and senator joe manchin demands mtv get it offer the air right now. we'll tell you what has him so fired up and angry. martha: two college students are

facing assault charges for bringing brown he's to class. they were no ordinary brown he's, that's your hint. >> they should have told people before they ate them, that could affect their whole day. >> some people got sick apparently so -- >> they should have to pay for like medical bills and stuff. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair.

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martha: we are back and there is more testimony expected today in the wikileaks case. army private bradley manning accused of leaking on to the internet hundreds of thousands of classified iraq and afghanistan war documents. his lawyers have complained that he received harsh treatment when he was in detention, claiming that he was sometimes locked away up to 23 hours a day with no clothes. but the government claims that the restrictions were meant to keep the soldier from hurting himself. more on that one when we get it.

bill: it has not even hit the air yet, not until january but plenty of folks in west virginia, up in arms over a new mtv reality show set there, they call it a reality show, it's called buck wild, described as a jersey shore for the appalachian set. >> west virginia is a place founded on freedom. for me and my friends that means the freedom to do whatever the [bleep ] we want. we are gunning, free, and buck wild. bill: it started nice. [laughter] bill: then they took a turn. west virginia senator former governor joe manchin is not happy about this. he's asking mtv to pull the show before it heirs. the show needs on the worst sterotypes, quoting now, i am repullsed at this business venture, where some americans are making money off of the poor decisions of our youth.

i cannot imagine that anyone who loves this country would feel proud about profiting off of buck wild. michael graham radio show host columnist for the "boston herald," here to comment. sir, how are you and good morning? >> thanks for having me. i love politicians writing a letter to the tv network. bill: he's ticked off. you wrote a book called "redneck nation" that's why we brought you in. >> that's right. bill: a couple of pictures of the show, the it hasn't aired yet. do you think the governor has a point? >> no cousins, look i'm from rural south carolina, i grew up in a small town where i spent my formative years running from large harry people named bubba, many of them women. i know the culture and it's an important part of america. if you think that a politician can stop an embarrassing tv show ask chris christie what lucky's had with skwrers ra jersey shore. that's what reality tv does.

on the other hand mockery is mockery you can always find dopes in any community. you hear a lot of complaints from southerners how they are portrayed in the media, they are always dopey, how kwra y'all doing, you dummies. they say there are no other groups that would be treat thed way. there would never be a buck wild show in the inner-city or a heavily latino area. is this the case that everybody has to put up with abuse or do some groups get to skate and some groups getting treat thed way it is pretty amazing that we've got a hey, look at all them yokles on tr right now. bill: that is thr- is mrs. bubba to you by the way. the senator goes on, instead of showcasing the beauty and people of our state you prey on young people coax them into displaying shameful behavior and now you are profiting from it, that is just wrong. here is a guy who has a lot of

state pride, you know what he's coming from. >> of course he does. look, i did stand up comedy back in the day in west virginia and had great people and less than great people. you go across the south and you have places like nash sreult, tennessee and vanderbilt and then you have other places like where i grew up. you can say that about any place in america. i think southerners i think have a legitimate complaint that the treatment of them as a group you don't see elsewhere the other reality shows, who is the biggest reality show on tv right now, other than bill hemmer it's honey boo-boo. more people know the recipe for sketty and butter than any other area. bill: jersey shore, buck wild reinforce sterotypes of those who do not live there looking in from the last side. what is the lasting image? the lasting image is stphaobg key and snooky and i don't know

where she is right now. >> she's giving tips to will and kate about child rearing ideas. i think reality tv is absolute proof of not good things spreading to the receipts o rest of the country. bill: well see how ticked off senator mansion is when this tv show heirs. martha: turn it off. you can make a choice. you don't have to watch, you know. bill: that is true. martha: that is the great thing that we have. you don't have to watch bridzilla. it's enough to make not anyone want to get married. bill: watchable, though. martha: you're a big fan, aren't you bill. bill: car crash. martha: all right. back to the serious news of the morning, because there are growing concerns that egypt's military n now has the power to arrest civilians without charge. is that key middle east country slipping back into

dictatorship? bill: say hello to my little friend. martha: hello little friend. bill: a wayward monkey found roaming around a parking lot but why he is wearing a coat? and who buttoned it? martha: really, right. bill: a lot of questions. martha: i love that picture.

martha: a potentially explosive

situation is now unfolding on the ground in egypt. the country's military giving sweeping new powers to arrest civilians who are protesting against the president's hard-line constitution. conor powell is following this live from our middle east bureau. connor, is this marshal law that we are essentially seeing now. >> reporter: make no doubt about it, martha. this is definitely march that law. president morsi says it is needed to insure the vote on a draft constitution on saturday december 15th. they want it to be postponed. they say the constitution is antidemocratic and too islamic. president morsi has given the military and the police these sweeping poeurs not onl powers not only until december 15th but beyond. this looks like a former security measure put in place by hosni mubarak. that was issued more than 30 years and and lasted until his

downfall nearly two years ago. martha: that raises the big question, connor about what happens to the opposition now. >> reporter: well, the opposition groups are calling for protests tomorrow and of course on friday, the big day of protest. morsi is calling on his supporters to get out there. the military is trying to act as a mediator. they called for dialogue over the weekend. if they start arresting civilians who are trying to protest this referendum there is no telling what type of violence we will see in the coming days. there are a lot of angry egyptian abouts this vote and they are likely to get more angry if people start getting arrested because of a protest. martha: frightening time in egypt, connor thank you very much. bill: martha, just how concerned should the u.s. be about the sweeping new powers, buck mckey on chairman of the house armed services committee in studio with us. nice to see you back in new york. >> nice to see you. bill: i think there are three ways to examine what is happening in egypt, first with

the president morsi. what does he want? what is he up to? >> i don't really know what he's -- what his ultimate goal is, but i'm really concerned that the people in egypt are at a crossroads. they can either follow the iranian model or they can follow the u.s. model of real, open, democracy. i hope they choose the latter, because i think the former puts us -- that whole area is just a tinderbox. when you see these tinderboxess around the world at the time when the president has taken away our fire extinguishers that puts us a in a bad spot. bill: do you believe like so many other others do that he wants egypt to be the next iran? >> morsi? bill: yes. >> boy, i hope not. indications could be that that's what he wants, but i sure hope not. for years they've been a

stabilizing influence in the region, and it's very important with them on the south of jerusalem, and then we see the problem with syria, and libya, all of this coming together puts israel more in jeopardy, and we have a special relationship with them that we've had for years, and we need to be able to carry out our commitments to them. but when we see these kind of things happening it puts all of that in jeopardy as we are cutting back our military, our ability to do the things that focus on american values, and helping democracies around the world, it puts us in a bad position. bill: second topic, us, what will we do, what can we do? >> you know, the president told syria, and i think all of of the region is kind of in the same kind of boat, but he told syria, don't use chemical, biological weapons against your own people. if you do you cross the red

line. i support the president in that. republicans will support the president in that. america will support it. i wish he had gone the next sentence, to let them know what happens when they cross the red line. he told them once before, don't cross the red line and they've already crossed that and so we moved the red line. i think you have to be resolute and consistent, and when you tell people, don't do something you ought to tell them what the consequences will be. i wish we had done that. but we are behind him in helping the syrian people. bill: back in egypt, though i think the third issue to be discussed always is what does the army do? do they follow orders from the new president, or do they buck the orders? what is the answer? >> the egyptian military for years has worked with our military. many of them have been trained, they understand the difference between military rule and civilian rule.

they don't step in -- they've tried to stay out of this when hosni mubarak fell, they came in and brought stability and brought elections, and then they pulled back, because they understand, based on how they've worked with us for years, how our system works, and that is a system that those military leaders try to follow. i think the reason they've got evegotgot t-rb en involved is because they have seen things happening around the world. they are concerned about leadership. and they are only concerned with leadership elected democratically. whether or not we like what they did or not they were elected democratically, but i think their in a quandary. they don't want to see people killed, they don't want to see this hugely rupg huge huge rerupgs over there.

eruption over there. i think they will follow the civilian leadership, and they want that leadership to follow the people. bill: good to see you in person. >> thanks for having me. martha: to colorado now. it was no ordinary snack, some college kids brought brownies to share with their class, fortified brown he's you might say and now they could be facing assault charges. i kid you not. bill: unbelievable details emerging from an attempting carjacking after the victim learns the would-be thieves who threatened her were armed and that is not all. >> i was afraid that when i drove away that he was going to like shoot my tire or window or something. like i didn't think that i was very safe, then i didn't think that i was going to come out alive and then i saw the cops. it's my favorite time of year again

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bill: one of them is seven, one of them is 11 years old being charged with armed robbery after police say they tried to carjack

a woman. police say they were carrying a loaded handgun, threatened to shoot a 22-year-old driver. if she did not hand over her truck or her wallet. she declined on both. she was able to drive off, call 911 and police say they are investigating how, how in the world the 7 and the 11-year-old ended up with a handgun in the first place. it's a good question. martha: two university of colorado students are under arrest after reportedly giving marijuana-laced brown he's to their classmates and to a professor, did i mention. the students participating in theee knack cue us sounding bring food to school day, but while pot is now legal in colorado, feeding it to somebody without their knowledge may be a different story. >> the message is, if you are going to make marijuana laced brown he's or any other product that has drugs in them and the other person doesn't know, that is a felony. >> ricardo cunningham is one of the suspects. several of the students became sick after eating the proupb aoefplts the professobrown

he's. the professor said she got all dizzy was going to pass out. a lot of questions are going to start arising with the legality of pot. joey are they guilty of assault. >> guilty, guilty and guilty. here is why. there is a couple of elements that have to be proven. with respect to the assault, martha what you have to look at is the lack of consent. if you could establish that someone was drugged and you didn't have their consent as a result of it the statute makes out assault. there is also another charge, martha, and that is the unlawful consumption of a controlled substance by deception, and as it relates to that all you have to show is that it was consumed by false pretenses. when you make brown he's and you don't make people aware that it contains thc, the substance found in marijuana, it is problematic and more than that

it's criminal. martha: debra what do you think sth. >> you know this as well as i do to have felony assault serious bodily injury needed to be intended or caused and neither was done here. this prank went terribly wrong but nobody was physically harmed. there was no serious physical harm. martha: we should point out that two people were dizzy, several of them went to the hospital, eight people suffered the affects of this really, you know, i mean i don't know if it's illegal but it's obnoxious. >> to say the least. >> i absolutely agree but it is not a felony level assault. >> here is the problem, and, debra lays out the statute, the only problem is one of the other elements in colorado is if you can establish the consumption without consent. under our law in new york state you need serious physical injury that is true and under colorado you do. but when we're talking about drugs and giving them to people and the people don't know that there is a specific section in the statute that addresses this. so while it might have been a prank and he may have thought it

was funny and i don't think he's a criminal, quote unquote i think the act itself is made out by the statute and he will have some problems. martha: the results could have been much more serious. you don't know how someone is going to react to this when you put it into their food if they've never had it before. there is no telling what kind of response there could be. it seems to me, if you're at bar and somebody slips something into your drink without telling you isn't it pretty much the same thing, deborah? >> i don't agree that this is the same thing. martha: why not? >> people did not have any intent to cause harm and what joey was mentioning before, when you give somebody a substance you need to have the intent to cause harm, to be guilty of the assault. here there was no intent to cause harm. i understand that this was a very bad idea and that they should not have given pot brown he's to their professor or classmates, but i absolutely do not believe, and i believe that their defense attorney would

argue that they had no intent to cause physical harm, serious physical harm, harm period. martha: it would seem to me, i don't know what the intent could possibly be other than to get a big kick out of watching the reaction after they bring -- everyone brings their food to school, it's bring your food to school today and clearly they wanted to sit back and get a good laugh out of this at the very least, right, joey. >> sure, it backfired in a significant way. as it relates to injury, as we both know, martha and deborah, there were people who were hospitalized here, number one the professor went to the hospital, number tootoo students did n. addition to that five others were sick. as it relates to the issue of intent under the statute, look, you don't need that, and if you can argue that you do intent could be inferred. what else would you be looking to do when you lay lace a brownee with marijuana than have people consume it. whatever the consequences, you

have to be strapped and saddled with it. i think the defendants have a big problem. martha: i think we'll see more things along these lines as pot becomes legal in more states. we'll hear more of these kind of stories. thank you. >> thank you. bill: jon scott standing on the studio h store right next to us. jon: or sitting in the chair, either one, bill. bill: how are you doing. jon: it's monday. i understand. the situation in syria gets nor dicey as rebels take more ground in the north prompting new fears about what an increasingly desperate dictator bashar al-assad might do. we are watching developments in egypt where muslim brotherhood president morsi gives with one hand as he takes away with the other. the protestors growing and d.c. is increasingly anxious of. are the mainstream media being fair in their coverage of the conflict? our panel weighs in on that. senator john pwa ra barrasso

joins us with his take on what happened in benghazi on septembe september 1111th. bill: taking a chance on green technology left some with a huge bill and not a single benefit. [ roasting firewood ] ♪ many hot dogs are within you. try pepto-bismol to-go, it's the power of pepto, but it fits in your pocket. now tell the world daniel... of pepto-bismol to-go.

>> a sharply dressed little shopper caused a little stir and it was not bill hemmer. he is often confused for bill hemmer but is not in a stylish shearling and a diaper. you see these things when you're christmas shopping. witnesses say he was just as confused as they were. >> all the people were trying to call it towards them but it was very scared, darting all over

the place. they were trying to get it away from cars. it became clear to us that none -fr ever the people there were actually the owner. martha: the monkey escaped the owner's car when they were out shopping. it has prompted two parity accounts on twitter. bill: only two. that guy dresses pretty well, though. martha: i just want to be there when the coat is getting buttoned. you think he likes having the coat on. bill: that man has some good folks looking out for him. martha: apparently not. he's wandering around the shopping mall in utter confusion. bill: a lawsuit highlights a double standard between big solar companies and taxpayers who say they are getting very little in return. william la jeunesse is live in l.a. on this. what is the story, william. >> reporter: this is the story about solar that you don't often hear. for years state and federal officials threw tax money at solar to stop global warming.

we were told it is clean and cheap. some in california are finding out it is not. >> there will be screw ups, bankruptcies, indictments and deaths but we are going to keep going and nothing is going to stop me. >> reporter: critics be dammed says governor jerry brown who backed solar energy no matter of cost or consequence. >> we are the people living with it for ever. we are opposed to it. >> reporter: riverside county is home to more molar energy than anywhere in the u.s. some call it a taxpayer rip off. >> they talk about all the huge jobs and long-term benefit to the county. we will be carrying the burden of having these types of facilities for decades to come. >> there isn't a single energy source in the united states that isn't subsidized right now. this is leveling the playing field for solar. the truth is that the cost for solar power is going consistently down. >> reporter: costs are dropping but solar is still up to five

times more expensive than conventional energy and the plants pay millions in local property taxes while solar pays next to nothing. when riverside tried to impose an impact fee big solar sued. >> this was an illegal tax. >> reporter: they have local environmen environmentalists on fire for bulldozing habitats and species. >> now we have seen acres of the desert bladed and undergoing ooh title-style construction. >> we are building these in the most environmentally sensitive way as possible. >> reporter: the price has call even from 32-cents to 16-cents. solar energy could be our future and this could be the price for innovation, but many feel the industry wasn't up front about the down sides. bill: we know where the governor stands. wow. william la jeunesse, thank you. martha: a six-year-old little girl near death from leukemia

making a miraculous recovery, how doctors saved her life with the help of a deadly virus. fascinating story. coming up. to the best vacation spot on earth. (all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi, alabam louisiana or florida, they're gonna love it. shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. thanks, karen. love your mississippi outdoors. i vote for your florida beaches, dawn.

bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. we're having such a great year on the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun. we've got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. and there's world class dining with our world famous seafood. so for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. right after mississippi. you mean alabama. say louisiana or there's no dessert. this invitation is brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.